New IM System - August 20th

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - New IM System - August 20th

Posted: 8/19/2009 6:49:01 AM EDT

The IM system will not be available in the early hours. The plan is to migrate all the data to the new system starting around 1am eastern. There is not current estimate on how long the migration of data will take, but the rest of the site should remain available for use.

The new Instant Messaging System is a huge upgrade from what exists today. There are number of back-end improvements to the engine and data storage which provide us additional flexibility to create and add new tools and extensions to the system. At launch the system will be missing one of these key components, a fully integrated search. Not missing will be the added functionality of personal contact lists, administrative user lists, custom folder creation, and an easier to use interface. The new system has more in common with email clients, than its predecessor.

I will share a few sample screen shots and highlight some of the changes.

This overview image shows the new UI in action. No more window popups to sift through, just a simple and dynamic tool. On the left is the folder view and contact list. The right had your folder message list and then the interactive area below. The interactive area is where you will read your messages, write new messages, and perform functions such as creating lists.
Custom folders are available to all team members to help them organize their messages better. In addition, all team members have a new max message limit to ensure more storage space. Messages can be arranged very quickly into the folders via a move function. The move function will be available for both the single message tool bar and the bulk action tool bar, in order to allow you to act quickly and efficiently. Every user will have access to the basics for the system. These include the inbox, sent message folder, and deleted message folder. It also includes the new Draft tool. Drafts are basically saved messages with subject/body which are not ready to be sent. Users are limited in the number of drafts they may store by their team membership level. Non-team users can store a single draft at a time, while team members and up can store anywhere from 4 to a dozen drafts at any time. To use a draft, you will click on the folder, then click on the draft message you wish to send. It will load in the interactive area, where you can enter a user to send it to. The message is pre-loaded and thus can be modified as needed.
The contact list section is also new and contains a few important features. The first is the administrative contact lists, the second is personal contacts. Contact lists are admin created multi-user messaging options. What these provide is a single message entry, which will be sent to multiple users. An examples of these would be a "support" list, which will go to staff members assigned to handle site issues. This helps us get back to you quicker when needed! Contact lists also allow team members to create contact entries to their more commonly contacted users. Simply click on "add contact" and a window will show up asking for the user's name. Once added to the list, a single click will load up the messaging form in the interactive window, with the user already filled in.
Although the image is small, I wanted to quickly go over the message control bar. (The bulk control bar is similar to this with the proper "group" functions available to it.) Each message, when open, will display it's own action bar. You will find standard functions available such as reply, forward, move, and delete. New additions to the system include true forwarding ability, which will load the message into a new message body where you can enter a user to send the message to. You also now have the ability to mark messages unread, or flag them for easier location at a later date. New messages will arrive in your inbox highlighted with green backgrounds, while unread messages will show up bolded. Any plain messages in a read state will simply show up with plain text. Flagged messages will display a small flag by subject so they are easy to find. You will also find a new "REPORT" function on the message bar. This is a simple addition which will allow you to report a message for violating system use guidelines. Anyone caught spamming or exploiting the system will have their account locked. In addition, this provides a quick way to report threats or problems created via user IMs and not forum posts. A copy of the offending messages will be entered into the trouble report which is sent to staff.

There are a few additional components which will be added to the new system as soon as they are completed. This system has been tested by staff, mods, and lifetime members for about 2 weeks now and should be free of any major bugs or issues. When the system goes live, please report any problems in this thread so they can be addressed quickly.

Posted: 8/19/2009 6:50:31 AM EDT

[#1]

Sweet. Looks good.

Posted: 8/19/2009 6:52:22 AM EDT

[#2]

Posted: 8/19/2009 6:53:17 AM EDT

[#3]

W00t! Nice looking

-Foxxz

Posted: 8/19/2009 7:32:09 AM EDT

[#4]

This would be great if people would talk to me.

Posted: 8/19/2009 7:51:56 AM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
This would be great if people would talk to me.

IM sent...

Posted: 8/19/2009 10:39:46 PM EDT

[#6]

The new system is now live.

A few bug fixes and changes also were part of this update. Nothing major of note. (Notice the NRA button at the top? JOIN OR RENEW WITH THE NRA!!!)

Posted: 8/20/2009 2:49:35 AM EDT

[#7]

Awesome!

Thanks Goatboy!

Posted: 8/20/2009 8:50:32 AM EDT

[#8]

So where did my saved messages go?

Posted: 8/20/2009 8:54:35 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:

So where did my saved messages go?

They are in your inbox. Unfortunately, there was no easy way to create a new folder and stuff them into it.

Posted: 8/20/2009 11:28:38 AM EDT

[#10]

Used it...huge improvement.

Posted: 8/20/2009 3:01:16 PM EDT

[#11]

That's awesome, GB!

Can you harness some of that technology and allow us to search by content, not just subject matter?

Posted: 8/20/2009 5:16:22 PM EDT

[#12]

Thanks!

Posted: 8/27/2009 8:06:42 AM EDT

[#13]

My messages won't open, but the layout looks nice... Nevermind I kept waiting for a window to pop up, I didn't realize I had to scroll down.

Posted: 8/27/2009 8:08:15 AM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
My messages won't open, but the layout looks nice...

Scroll down, they no longer pop-up in a separate window.

Posted: 8/27/2009 8:41:20 AM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:

Can you harness some of that technology and allow us to search by content, not just subject matter?

Shall I take a non response as a no?

Posted: 8/28/2009 10:43:07 AM EDT

[#16]

Actually, the new search is being completed, but probably wont be launched for a couple weeks. You just posted a questing in a thread that had nothing to do with it.

The new search has been mentioned in several discussions already in other parts of the site. Right now I would guess that it will be live around the end of September.

Posted: 8/28/2009 10:53:33 AM EDT

[#17]

Posted: 8/28/2009 6:36:08 PM EDT

[#18]

i have 10-20 ims a day but none will open! help

Posted: 8/29/2009 6:46:39 AM EDT

[#19]

The dont open in a new window, they open below the message list window. If you don't see them, the only thing preventing it would be software on your end blocking web actions.

Posted: 8/29/2009 9:57:17 AM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
i have 10-20 ims a day but none will open! help

Scroll down.

Posted: 8/29/2009 3:03:02 PM EDT

[#21]

i did i get the im notice but there is nothing at the bottom either

Posted: 8/30/2009 8:05:21 AM EDT

[#22]

It's possible that you get the IM indicator, but there's no new IM there. This is just a bug from the transition and can be fixed individually as needed. I just put some code up to handle automated fixing of this issue. (Wont take effect until 7am each morning, when the system will balance out the new message counts to catch any errors.)

Posted: 9/12/2009 6:21:35 PM EDT

[#23]

Juan, are there any new "archive IM" features?

I remember at one time that you'd mentioned an upcoming archive feature, but I haven't kept up, so forgive me if it's something that's already debuted in an earlier upgrade/release.

I've got a number of IMs from some arfcommers who are no longer with us, and I'd love to be able to archive them... other than just copying/pasting into a Word doc.

Posted: 9/13/2009 7:20:44 AM EDT

[#24]

There wont be an archive feature, it will be what it was like before, an email function. (Named email in this version.) You will be able to single or bulk email messages to store them off the IM system.

With the additional storage space, the idea is to allow you to keep more messages than before. As we continue to monitor the system, we may adjust limits to allow more messages to be stored per person.

Posted: 9/13/2009 8:30:45 AM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:

There wont be an archive feature, it will be what it was like before, an email function. (Named email in this version.) You will be able to single or bulk email messages to store them off the IM system.

With the additional storage space, the idea is to allow you to keep more messages than before. As we continue to monitor the system, we may adjust limits to allow more messages to be stored per person.

Is there any way to get around the "auto-delete" feature built in to the present email ['archive'] function?

That's the main reason I haven't used/tried it yet... is I'd like to see my 'archive' results first, before I lose the IMs forever.

If there's not a way around it, then the additional storage space should suffice and is [already] greatly appreciated.

Posted: 9/13/2009 12:46:14 PM EDT

[#26]

The new system wont delete anything you email out, it's up to you to delete it manually. This means if for some reason you do not get your emailed messages, you have the option to try it again to a different address before you delete.

No ETA yet on the email ability... there are other issues being worked on at the moment.

Posted: 9/13/2009 6:01:29 PM EDT

[#27]

Beautiful. Thank you very much!

Posted: 10/16/2009 8:40:50 AM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:

The new system wont delete anything you email out, it's up to you to delete it manually. This means if for some reason you do not get your emailed messages, you have the option to try it again to a different address before you delete.

No ETA yet on the email ability... there are other issues being worked on at the moment.

Any updates?

Posted: 11/24/2009 8:45:31 PM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:

Quoted:

The new system wont delete anything you email out, it's up to you to delete it manually. This means if for some reason you do not get your emailed messages, you have the option to try it again to a different address before you delete.

No ETA yet on the email ability... there are other issues being worked on at the moment.

Any updates?

Posted: 11/25/2009 7:31:19 AM EDT

[#30]

Nothing yet, been real swamped between a few projects. This wont likely happen until the new search is launched.

Posted: 11/25/2009 8:56:48 PM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:

Nothing yet, been real swamped between a few projects. This wont likely happen until the new search is launched.

Thanks. I'll stay tuned. It's nothing critical, it just would be nice to be able to archive some of my old IMs eventually.

Posted: 12/6/2009 9:46:27 PM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:

Nothing yet, been real swamped between a few projects. This wont likely happen until the new search is launched.

No big; just curious. Any ETA on the new search? (or is there another thread for that?)

You know I am a huge search fan/proponent... if you ever want/need a beta tester...

Well, let's just say I'm more interested in the "new search" talk than I am in the other functionality!

And again, just for the record, the ability to use Boolean logic to combine search parameters/indexes would be the bomb.com!

Posted: 1/20/2010 6:21:51 AM EDT

[#33]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Nothing yet, been real swamped between a few projects. This wont likely happen until the new search is launched.

Thanks. I'll stay tuned. It's nothing critical, it just would be nice to be able to archive some of my old IMs eventually.

Not trying to be a pest but...

I just thought I'd bump this back to everyone's attention since it has been another couple of months.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - New IM System - August 20th

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